1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:05,460 [New York Close Up] 2 00:00:05,460 --> 00:00:08,760 [Ruby Sky Stiler, Artist] 3 00:00:09,580 --> 00:00:11,300 [Daniel Gordon, Artist] 4 00:00:11,300 --> 00:00:13,400 [GORDON] We started grad school at the same time. 5 00:00:13,410 --> 00:00:16,200 Ruby was in sculpture, and I was in photo-- 6 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,920 and had a big crush on her. 7 00:00:20,500 --> 00:00:23,760 [STILER] And then, it took us a little while, 8 00:00:23,770 --> 00:00:26,060 because we were both really shy. 9 00:00:26,060 --> 00:00:28,640 [GORDON] But from the time that we got together, 10 00:00:28,650 --> 00:00:30,079 we've just been together. 11 00:00:30,079 --> 00:00:32,870 [STILER] This makes Danny's glue gun look kind of lame, right? 12 00:00:32,870 --> 00:00:34,730 [GORDON] I don't know, I mean I... 13 00:00:34,730 --> 00:00:35,890 Works for me. 14 00:00:36,900 --> 00:00:38,640 [Danny and Ruby are married.] 15 00:00:39,300 --> 00:00:42,760 [GORDON] I mean, art is so much of our life, 16 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:45,630 so, you know, art is the personal. 17 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:49,420 I kind of did some new things. 18 00:00:49,420 --> 00:00:51,930 Like this vase was... 19 00:00:51,930 --> 00:00:54,640 is just leaning slightly to the right-- 20 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:56,400 which I don't mind, 21 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,080 but I just started to worry that 22 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,340 it was something that would annoy somebody else. 23 00:01:01,340 --> 00:01:03,500 So, I'm texting Ruby 24 00:01:03,500 --> 00:01:07,650 without letting her know exactly what I'm concerned with, 25 00:01:07,650 --> 00:01:10,220 So that, if she sees it, 26 00:01:10,220 --> 00:01:13,280 and she says, "I don't like that," 27 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:15,869 I would probably remake the picture. 28 00:01:15,869 --> 00:01:17,780 [STILER] That's one thing that Danny... 29 00:01:17,780 --> 00:01:19,789 I think Danny and I do really well together, 30 00:01:19,789 --> 00:01:25,289 is give each other really no-frills feedback. [LAUGHS] 31 00:01:25,540 --> 00:01:27,000 [GORDON] Oh shit. 32 00:01:32,820 --> 00:01:33,580 Hmm. 33 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,899 [STILER] So, here's the picture that I was going to show you. 34 00:01:38,899 --> 00:01:40,429 Can you see that? 35 00:01:40,429 --> 00:01:42,149 Look at all those babies. 36 00:01:42,149 --> 00:01:44,539 Oh, here you can see. 37 00:01:44,539 --> 00:01:45,679 See that baby? 38 00:01:45,679 --> 00:01:46,429 That's mine. 39 00:01:46,429 --> 00:01:48,590 And that's Danny. 40 00:01:48,590 --> 00:01:50,979 He's cute, right? 41 00:01:50,979 --> 00:01:53,219 But it's not just looks with him-- 42 00:01:53,219 --> 00:01:54,479 it's the whole package. 43 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:56,600 [LAUGHS] 44 00:02:04,060 --> 00:02:10,140 ["Daniel Gordon and Ruby Sky Stiler Take Baby Steps"] 45 00:02:11,940 --> 00:02:15,580 [Gus Stiler Gordon, Baby] 46 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:17,880 [GORDON] Before Gus was born... 47 00:02:17,890 --> 00:02:19,960 [STILER] Typical studio day... 48 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,060 We would wake up at 9, then... 49 00:02:23,060 --> 00:02:24,760 [GORDON] Well, unless I went surfing. 50 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:26,820 And then studio, 51 00:02:26,820 --> 00:02:29,080 which could be anywhere from 2 to, 52 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,340 you know, 8 hours. 53 00:02:31,340 --> 00:02:33,030 Or 10 hours. 54 00:02:33,030 --> 00:02:35,290 [STILER] We do a lot of stuff at night, too. 55 00:02:35,290 --> 00:02:37,560 [GORDON] And then, yeah, 56 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,560 drinks with friends, or dinner. 57 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:42,210 [STILER] Make love for hours. 58 00:02:42,210 --> 00:02:43,950 [GORDON, LAUGHING] Make love for hours. 59 00:02:43,950 --> 00:02:44,820 [GUS LAUGHS] 60 00:02:44,820 --> 00:02:46,660 [GORDON] Yeah, that is funny! 61 00:02:47,140 --> 00:02:48,780 And, up we go! 62 00:02:48,790 --> 00:02:50,260 [KISSING SOUNDS] 63 00:02:52,980 --> 00:02:54,140 [STILER] We're ambitious, 64 00:02:54,140 --> 00:02:56,340 and we want to accomplish things. 65 00:02:56,350 --> 00:02:59,000 And, for years, we've been like, 66 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,120 "Well, you know, we really don't know about having a kid," 67 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,440 "because neither one of us wants to give up anything." 68 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,660 That was a big thing for us. 69 00:03:08,660 --> 00:03:10,340 And then, we realized, like, 70 00:03:10,340 --> 00:03:11,450 "Fuck this conversation." 71 00:03:11,450 --> 00:03:14,670 Like, this is like, not something we can control. 72 00:03:14,670 --> 00:03:16,890 [GORDON] Yeah, let's just... let's... 73 00:03:16,890 --> 00:03:17,830 Whatever. 74 00:03:18,250 --> 00:03:19,370 We'll see what happens. 75 00:03:19,370 --> 00:03:19,970 [STILER] Yeah. 76 00:03:19,970 --> 00:03:22,510 [Gowanus, Brooklyn] 77 00:03:31,620 --> 00:03:36,600 [STILER] I'm so completely obsessed with my work. 78 00:03:37,980 --> 00:03:40,460 There's this mythology that 79 00:03:40,470 --> 00:03:44,690 you have to sacrifice everything to be a good mom. 80 00:03:45,980 --> 00:03:49,140 At least that's the one that I inherited. 81 00:03:50,900 --> 00:03:52,620 You know, so I think that there was, like, 82 00:03:52,620 --> 00:03:54,620 a lot of extra guilt for me, 83 00:03:54,620 --> 00:03:57,880 that I was choosing to take myself out of... 84 00:03:57,880 --> 00:03:59,820 out of Gus's daily life. 85 00:03:59,820 --> 00:04:01,900 And that was my decision. 86 00:04:01,900 --> 00:04:06,080 And then also, guilt that I really wanted to go back to my studio. 87 00:04:11,820 --> 00:04:13,060 [STILER] Hi, guys! 88 00:04:15,940 --> 00:04:17,660 [GORDON] You're going to stain all of them? 89 00:04:17,660 --> 00:04:20,940 [STILER] Yeah, but there is something about the staining 90 00:04:20,940 --> 00:04:21,859 that brings out... 91 00:04:21,859 --> 00:04:23,979 I mean, this sounds really quaint when I say it, 92 00:04:23,980 --> 00:04:26,040 but it brings out, like, the... 93 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:26,740 [GUS COUGHS] 94 00:04:30,130 --> 00:04:31,010 [STILER] You okay? 95 00:04:31,010 --> 00:04:31,930 [GORDON] You okay? 96 00:04:35,540 --> 00:04:36,960 [KISSING SOUNDS] 97 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,120 [STILER] I remember, when Danny went back to work, everyone would be like, 98 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:44,940 "Oh my God, you're an amazing dad." 99 00:04:44,940 --> 00:04:47,340 "You took six weeks off; that's so cool." 100 00:04:47,340 --> 00:04:50,940 And he was getting, like, a lot of positive feedback. 101 00:04:50,940 --> 00:04:53,880 And then when I went back to work--at three months--to my studio, 102 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,800 I remember so many comments like this one: 103 00:04:57,540 --> 00:04:59,620 "That must be so hard." 104 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:06,300 I had a lot more fear and anxiety about losing my identity, 105 00:05:06,310 --> 00:05:11,060 and losing the things that I've managed to accomplish so far-- 106 00:05:11,060 --> 00:05:16,300 and, like, my small foothold in being an artist that's working. 107 00:05:16,300 --> 00:05:19,280 And Danny didn't have that kind of anxiety. 108 00:05:19,290 --> 00:05:25,310 But, I think I was afraid I wouldn't be a good enough mom. 109 00:05:25,310 --> 00:05:29,000 Whenever I would talk to women of a different generation-- 110 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:30,100 of an older generation-- 111 00:05:30,100 --> 00:05:31,430 the response would be like, 112 00:05:31,430 --> 00:05:35,030 "Well maybe you need to rethink your life right now." 113 00:05:35,030 --> 00:05:39,090 As opposed to what I really needed, which was reinforcement-- 114 00:05:39,090 --> 00:05:42,840 that I was not, like, fucking up my baby 115 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:44,500 and, you know, being selfish. 116 00:05:44,500 --> 00:05:45,680 But I don't know, Daniel, 117 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,490 I mean, did you ever have any guilty feeling going back? 118 00:05:48,490 --> 00:05:50,419 Because I remember you blasted out of here. 119 00:05:50,419 --> 00:05:52,240 [GORDON] I was conflicted, I think, 120 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:56,370 when I first went back to work. 121 00:05:56,370 --> 00:05:58,560 When there's less time, you just have to be more thoughtful 122 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:02,320 about how you spend it. 123 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:04,410 Even though it's maybe... 124 00:06:04,410 --> 00:06:06,770 there's less available time, 125 00:06:06,770 --> 00:06:08,470 I haven't got less done. 126 00:06:08,470 --> 00:06:09,550 I really haven't. 127 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:11,720 [We are currently closed for installation. Daniel Gordon's exhibition "Screen Selections and Still Lifes" opens Thursday, October 30th...] 128 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:13,080 [GORDON] Is it ready? 129 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,820 [WALLSPACE, Chelsea] 130 00:06:26,389 --> 00:06:28,869 Yeah, I mean, like... 131 00:06:29,700 --> 00:06:30,840 You know... 132 00:06:31,310 --> 00:06:34,430 I want them to read as individual works, but... 133 00:06:35,660 --> 00:06:38,380 [STILER] But was this a decision, their spacing here? 134 00:06:38,380 --> 00:06:39,900 Because this feels kind of... 135 00:06:40,620 --> 00:06:41,980 [GORDON] Yeah. Yeah. 136 00:06:46,340 --> 00:06:48,440 [STILER] I think it looks so great. 137 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:51,580 [GORDON] Cool. You do? 138 00:06:51,580 --> 00:06:53,380 [STILER] Mmm hmm. I love it. 139 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:55,280 I love it. 140 00:07:08,540 --> 00:07:11,360 [GORDON] But, honestly, now having Gus, 141 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,970 it's such a pleasure and a relief 142 00:07:14,970 --> 00:07:19,949 to have some other thing that's very important, 143 00:07:19,949 --> 00:07:21,919 that pulls you away from all that stuff. 144 00:07:21,919 --> 00:07:26,389 You know, you can't obsess and take care of Gus; 145 00:07:26,389 --> 00:07:28,070 you have to obsess about Gus, 146 00:07:28,070 --> 00:07:30,139 and then you can obsess about the other stuff, 147 00:07:30,139 --> 00:07:31,080 or whatever, you know, 148 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,840 like it's really nice to have 149 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,970 just this whole other amazing part. 150 00:07:38,970 --> 00:07:40,160 It's not about art; 151 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,030 it's just about... I don't know... 152 00:07:42,030 --> 00:07:43,250 it's about... 153 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,940 Life and love and family 154 00:07:46,949 --> 00:07:49,139 and all that good stuff. 155 00:07:49,139 --> 00:07:52,360 [STILER] And, you know, eventually a studio assistant. 156 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:55,260 [GORDON] Yeah, small hand labor as well, which... 157 00:07:55,260 --> 00:07:56,100 [LAUGHING] 158 00:07:56,100 --> 00:07:59,630 I think that will come into play in a couple of years, so... 159 00:08:00,900 --> 00:08:03,300 [STILER] Okay, but don't be mad at me, okay sweetie? 160 00:08:03,300 --> 00:08:03,960 Alright? 161 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:05,940 [GORDON] What's this? 162 00:08:05,940 --> 00:08:10,580 Because I've been wondering all this time! 163 00:08:10,580 --> 00:08:13,090 You got your pants all dirty, crazy guy.